A.J. Watson

Anthony J. Watson

National Director of Becoming A Man

A.J. Watson joined the Youth Guidance staff in April 2014, as Director of the Becoming A Man program. Prior to Youth Guidance A.J. worked for the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) where he oversaw efforts to attract, develop and retain top-tier talent by creating a goal oriented, high-performance culture and created a partnership matrix and strategy for CASEL’s policy advocacy efforts.

He is a former Education Pioneer Graduate School Fellow and spent 12 years as an executive trainer and consultant for FOCUS Training, a leadership training and development firm. He has also done human capital consulting for IDEA Public Schools, a charter school network in the Rio Grande Valley. Previously he served as an organizer for a gubernatorial campaign and held finance and sales roles for Fortune 200 firms such as GE, Target and Wells Fargo. A.J. earned an MBA in human capital and strategy from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business and a BBA in finance and political science from Howard University.